UH Students React to Stadium Name Change: Refuse to Use New Name

In addition to remembering maze-like classroom routes, popular lecture halls and important syllabi dates at the beginning of a new fall semester, the University of Houston is tossing another complex name at its students — new and old — to memorize: Texas Dow Employees Credit Union Stadium.

UH and TDECU, the largest credit union in the Houston area, announced a naming rights gift July 8 that rebrands the University’s football arena as TDECU Stadium.

The deal is worth $15 million over 10 years, which lasts through June 2024.

The project is an inviting sight for UH fans and supporters, but few have come to a consensus as to whether the stadium’s name is a welcoming sound.

“It’s a mouth-full, definitely,” a UH student said. “Its not the easiest name to call the stadium.”

The previous UH football building was simply known as “Robertson Stadium,” a favorable name among the community. While some students noted the difference in saying the new stadium name, others simply refused to call it by its new moniker.

“What acronym is this? I don’t even know what it [stands] for,” another student said. “And I know I’m going to get all the letters mixed up so I’m just going to call it ‘Cougar Stadium.’”

The student elaborated on the name’s complexity and confusion.

“If they call it the [TDECU Stadium] I’m just going to ask, ‘Do you mean the “Cougar Stadium”?’”

“The Cage,” is another alternate tittle that students rallied for on social media when the structure’s name was announced in July.

The facility is scheduled to open Aug. 29 when Houston hosts the University of Texas at San Antonio in a nationally televised contest.